This 'Fasting-Mimicking Diet' Gives You the Health Benefits of Fasting Without Depriving Your Body

People have been fasting for centuries for religious reasons. Now, science shows that from a medical standpoint, fasting is a proven way to help you live a longer and healthier life.

According to recent studies, fasting can not only help us lose weight, but reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease, while at the same time helping us live longer.

Scientists at the University of Southern California's Longevity Institute, led by Dr. Valter Longo, discovered fasting for three days throws our bodies into repair mode: fixing problems within our cells and minimizing DNA damage. It works because fasting slows the production of the growth hormone, IGF-1.

Click on the box above to watchTerry Meeuwsen's interview Dr. Valter Longo about The Longevity Diet on The 700 Club.

The problem with fasting is that it's very hard to do. The good news is Longo and his associates discovered a diet that tricks the body into thinking it's fasting.

In his new book, The Longevity Diet, Longo recommends this five-day fasting-mimicking diet three times a year. He also describes what we should be eating the rest of the time to live healthy well into old age.